


The first time he saw her

by MotsPassants



Series: Growing Strong/Breathe don't falter/Chasing Shadows  fanfiction [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Eventual Uchiha Sasuke/Nara Riko, F/F, F/M, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Gen, Inspired by Fanfiction, Inspired by a deleted work, One-Sided Relationship, Sasuke's POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24708310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotsPassants/pseuds/MotsPassants
Summary: This work was inspired by Silencia's Growing Strong (before it has been rewritten).Here we will see the growing relationship between Riko (fem!Harry) and Sasuke from his point of view. Enjoy!
Series: Growing Strong/Breathe don't falter/Chasing Shadows  fanfiction [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787056
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Silencia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silencia/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Breathe (Don't Falter)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17241749) by [silenceia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silenceia/pseuds/silenceia). 



> Please, do ask Silencia if you do want to read the Original version.
> 
> I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto.  
> This story was inspired by the 11th chapter of Growing Strong, that was a crossover between the two universes. Silencia gave me the permission to post it on AO3 even though her previous work was deleted. It has been mainly written from Nara Riko's (female Harry) POV. Through this work, I wanted to explore her interactions with Sasuke from his own.
> 
> This is an old work of mine. i'll probably fix a couple of things before continuing it. Please, bear with it in the main time?

"Alright. Shino and Hinata, continue to practice the Leaf Floating Exercice. Sasuke, I will show you the Kunai Balancing Exercice. Riko, you will continue working on Kunai Balancing. Here, I will give you a kunai."

"I have one" She said as she pulled out a kunai from her belt.

That little fact left me staring. After all, it was unusual for a child to carry this kind of weapon. Then Iruka turned at me and started explaining.

During the following hour the though lingered in my mind,as I warred with myself over whether or not to ask. Until my curiosity won.

I asked. Her answer was vague. Unlucky she said. Well, maybe not as unlucky as to have a bloodthirsty brother who slaughtered his whole clan on a whim.

"Hn" I returned to my exercice and she let out a relieved breath. Her face was blank even though a shadow passed through her eyes.

x-------------------------x

I am used to spend my evening training alone while doing my best to clear my head. To stop the flow of memories and thoughts, whether they are happy ones or not. As one generally leads to the other.

I feel as if these are the only moments I am doing someting productive. Even though I know that I have to go to the academy to get my license, but the days there are tedious.

Children. They are so annoying, all of them. It will be a wonder I they don't end up dead during their first year as a ninja. Well, annoying. Some are more bearable than the others, fortunately.

Aburame seemed alright. As did Nara. Both are clan's heir so I guess it is not so surprising. Same for his sister who seemed to have potential as a kunoichi, and took her training seriously. Most should be ashamed. What a waste.

I tensed suddenly and whirled around.

"Who's there ? Show yourself!"

Well, speaking of the devil…

"Nara". My face was expressionless as I looked at her. Her vibrant red hair was easily recognisable.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there . I was just… uh… evading someone and ended up in here…"

She sounded sheepish as she scratched her head nervously.

"Evading who?" I asked coldly. She was wasting my time. For all that I know, she could have have some ulterior motives.

"Tachibana Fumio. From my old class. He's… well he likes my a lot for some reason."

A look of understanding passed through my eyes.

"I remember" I stated.

"Ahh, that's right, you saw him that one time… in ninjustsu class, was it?" She laugh nervously. "Uhh… do you want to spar?"

The question blurted out of her mouth. Then she looked at me as if she expected (or wanted) me to refuse. I gave her a condensing look and nodded curtly. It is the most interesting proposition today so far and I hoped that she would be worth my time. For what I know, she is somehow decent in taijutsu and it has been a while since I spared against someone.

She walked toward me, stopped a few steps away and sink into her fighting stance. I did the same. And we stare at each other waiting for the other to attack.

I am the first one to move. I ran forward, fist flying towards her. She dodged, then dart in and snapped her own fist forwards but I blocked it. Then she jumps away.

So the fight began. My attacks are direct and sharp whereas hers are light and flowing. It is refreshing to exchange blows against someone who's not holding back and whose level is on par to mine. As the spar goes on, I slowly but surly lose track of time. And soon, it is not against fire that I am fighting but against midnight locks, eyes as red as blood and against a condensing smile. All I see is the slaughter and the corpses laying on the floor. And I am filled with anger and rage and all is directed at my opponent. Faster and faster, we whirl around each other in an intricate dance of punches, kicks, blocks and counter. I want him hurt and fell everything that I had buried inside. Resentment. Hate. And the frustration at being so weak and pathetic.

And I communicated all in my attacks. I fell alive for the first time in so many years as we continue to exchange blows until all that's left is us, freed of our anger, hate and demons.

Finally I managed to sweep my leg behind hers. She fell to the ground and before she can move I kneel above her, one hand on her throat. We are both breathing hard and then, for the first time, it is not him that I am seeing. It is not crimson but emeralds that are watching me tearfully. And we stare at each other without memories and pain obstructing our vision.

Her beautiful striking red hair were unfolded in a wreath. I couldn't tear my eyes from the expense of the white, soft skin of her neck. She seemed so delicate. Yet I knew she was not and mesmerised I looked at a single tear who rolled down her cheek.

I wiped it away unconsciously.

No word was spoken. I stayed until her eyes were dry then I stood up and walked away.

"Same time next week?" She croaked.

"Hn"

And that was the first fight of a long series. And slowly I started to live again as striking forest green eyes took place in my dreams instead of bloodied red ones.


	2. Chapter 2

"Next, Team Seven… Nara Riko, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Iruka sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be on the same team as that bastard?" Naruto shouted, pointing at me. I glared him daggers.

"Sasuke's grades were the first among all twenty-seven graduates while you were Dead Last, Naruto. We have to balance out the teams, understand?"

That made several people snicker at him. They really shouldn't, most of them aren't any better then him.

"Just don't get in my way, dobe." I said without throwing him a single glance.

"What did you call me, teme?" I sight. Why do I even need teammates anyway? Well, at least it could have been worse. As long as Riko doesn't get troublesome. But she won't, right?

"Do you want to fight, dobe?"

A part of me doesn't' want to rile him up. Briefly, I saw a flash of green eyes glaring at me disapprovingly but I dismissed it.

It's his fault for being so annoying.

Iruka sighed and continued to announce teams while Uzumaki pouts. Can't he be even more childish ? As expected, most clan heirs are put together. It's not very surprising. Balancing teams ? Right. Of course. Then we wonder why most civilians don't graduate.

Well, it is not as if Konoha would like to waste money on talentless children.

"Alright." Iruka concludes. "This afternoon we will introduce the jounin seiseis. Take a break until then."

I leave.

Briefly, I saw Riko surrounded by children. And I feel a flash of annoyance when I spotted Tachibana Fumio among them.

x-------------------------x

Nara entered the classroom and sat next to me. It is a wonder that this seat was still empty. Thinking that a fangirl could be sitting next to me give me sends me chills down my spine. My eyes shifts on her direction and our gaze meet when she sits down. We exchange a look of mutual acknowledgment, then we turn to look to the front. The whole exchange barely took a spilt of second.

Then Uzumaki sits next to her while mumbling something about a stomach ache. He sends her a dazzling smile and started talking. Speaking of teammates… She wouldn't be so bad, I guess. As for Uzumaki…

I just hope that our jounin sensei will be competent enough. I hope, but not for long as one by one, adults enter the room and leave with their team until we are the only ones left.

Ten minutes pass.

Thirty minutes.

Patience wasn't one of my main qualities but I tried my best to stay motionless.

"He's gonna come, right, Ri-chan?"

We both look at her.

"Give me a second."

She walks to the sink, block the drain and turn on the water. Then she ran through a few hand seals.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." And a perfect copy of her gracefully steps out of the sink. I didn't know she could perform elemental manipulation. And I can't help but fell impressed. I wonder what else she is able to perform.

"Whoa, Ri-chan, that's so cool!" Naruto cheers.

"Thanks 'Ruto." She and her clone both answered. Then her water self ran through the window and jumps out.

"What is she doing? " Asked captain obvious.

"I send her to gather information. We'll know more soon."

"Awesome idea!" He cheers while I gave her an acknowledging nod. Clones seemed to be rather covenant. Maybe I should learn some techniques.

She sits down again. At least, we are not waiting for naught now.

Then she took out a handful of senbon and started balancing them on her hand. I can't say that it is a bad idea. We are bound to wait for a long time and it's not wise to waste our time in such a way. I guess that she takes her training rather seriously, which I can relate to.

"Whoa Ri-chan! How are you doing that?" Uzumaki exclaims. "Can you teach me?"

She pauses. "I could, but you have a lot of chakra, so it will be harder for you. You should start with an other exercice first."

Leaf floating ? Doesn't he know that already ?

"Alright! What do I do?" He grins

She contemplated and answered. "The first exercise is called Tree Climbing Exercise. It's something all ninja have to eventually learn, so pay attention." I listened closely.

"It's a control exercise where you use chakra to stick yourself to a surface, like this."

She stood up and started walking towards and then up the wall of the classroom.

A couple of second later, she jumps down. Uzumaki exclaims in surprise. I would have done the same have I not heard of the exercise. But it is an other thing to see it with your own eyes. My respect for abilities grew even more.

"We can't really practice in this classroom. Basically, you focus chakra to your feet and run up a tree, and then when you notice you can't go any further, you make a kunai mark at the highest point you reach. Then you do the whole thing again and try to make the next mark above the previous one."

At this words, Uzumaki looked as if he wanted to run up to the next tree he finds. She smiled at her friend.

"You can try to channel chakra through your hand though and stick it to the wall. It'll help later when you do it with your feet."

"Yatta!" Uzumaki yells and runs to the wall. Riko returned at senbon balancing while I try to listen to her advice and stick my hand to the table.

As she said, every ninja should learn it at one point in their life so it is better to start practising.

x-------------------------x

Her water clone returns, eventually, after half an hour.

"Report" She orders. I join her, as do Uzumaki.

"Our jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Yoshino-sama says that only he would keep you waiting for so long. And you are likely going to have to wait for an other few hours. She gave me cookies for you to make the wait easier." Then her clone hands her a large box. She nods and tell her to go to the sink to dispel herself.

Yoshino-sama? Hatake Kakashi? The latter sounds familiar.

"Who's Yoshino-sama?" Uzumaki voices.

"My mom. For some reason my clones always address people very formally."

Of course.

"Your mom is awesome! These are delicious!"

"I'll tell her you said so." Then Riko turned at me. "You can take some as well, if you want. The ginger-orange cookies are quite good. Not as sweet though."

I look at her. She's smiling expectantly. She's beautiful when she smiles. Inwardly, a take a cookie from the box without leaving her gaze. And then I stare at this little innocent cookie in my hand before taking it to my mouth.

They're alright. Riko keeps smiling gently as I take an other one. I'll eat all the cookies of the world if only I could keep watching her smiling like this.


	3. Chapter 3

We have to wait for an other two hours until our sensei finally arrives.

We look up when the door slides open and a tall man enter the classroom. He's wearing the standard jounin uniform. A mask cover up his face and his itai-ate is pulled over his eye so that his right one is the only visible part of it.

He yawns, stares at us and announces flatly. "My first impression is…"

Uzumaki looks at him, bemused. As for me, I am kind of disappointed. Our jounin sensei is after all the one we should rely on during our first years as ninja. Theoretically.

"I don't like you."

My eyes narrow. Well, the felling is mutual.

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes." He says as he vanishes in a puff of smoke. I sight. Then Uzumaki jumps up and runs out the door. I follow him quickly.

Hatake is laying on the floor and seems to be completely enamoured with his orange book. I don't think that anything will surprise my anymore. He doesn't even straighten up when we sit in front of him.

And we wait five minutes more for our third teammate who seems to take her time.

"Ri-chan! You took so long!" Uzumaki complains. He really should learn to speak quietly. Fortunately, my clan's men aren't known for their enhanced hearing.

"I got lost to the way to the toilet." She states. « I'm so sorry to be a whole five minutes late. You must have waited so eagerly for my arrival. I am sorry for wasting your precious time in which you could have done something useful. »

My lips twitch. Well said.

Hatake caughs a little.

Uzumaki… gives her a blank look. Uhh… never mind.

"Right, let's begin with some introductions." He says. "Tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future, stuff like that."

"You first." Said Riko tonelessly, sitting down.

"Ohh, me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. My dreams…" He trails of. "I have a lot of hobbies."

At least he told us his name. Yoshino-san was a bit more informative.

"Now, it's your turn." He motions to Naruto.

I sight. Again. Who can blame me? It has been a long day.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like Ri-chan and ramen! Especially the ramen Ri-Chan and Iruka sensei buy me! What I dislike is the three minutes to cook a cup of ramen. And my dream is to surpass all the Hokage and make all the people in the village acknowledge me!" He said a bit to cheerfully for my tastes.

"Okay, next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There is a lot of things I dislike…" Blondes. Pink hair. Squealing girls who need a realistic dream and whose hobby is to be leeches. Fan boys. Useless teachers. "-and I like…" I glance briefly to my side and picture the image of a smiling Riko. "-sparring" I said, hiding my embarrassment. Then I sober up.

"Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention of leaving as just a dream. To revive my clan… and to kill a certain man." It is my duty.

"Next, the girl" he said, distracting me from my past.

"I'm Nara Riko. I like my friends and family. I dislike bullies. My dream for the future…" She trails off then says firmly "My dream is something I already have. What I want is to protect it."

Something she has?

"Okay!" Hatake says then, clapping his hands together. "We will start our duties tomorrow!"

"Yatta!" Uzumaki cheers, punching his fist in the air. "What kind of duties?" He asks eagerly.

"First," He smiles gleefully. "we are going to do something with just the four of us."

My eyes narrow. Naruto start bouncing.

"What ! What is it?"

"Survival training."

A cold wind blows over the rooftop. And the sky seems to be darkening suddenly.

"S-survival training?" Uzumaki asks with a quiet voice as Hatake chukkles darkly. Then he stares at us.

"Out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine are going to be Genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, tomorrow's training will be a test with a sixty percent dropout rate, and I will be your opponent." Charming.

"Graduating the Academy means only that you have the potential to become shinobi. You have yet to pass my test."

Uzumaki looked ready to protest but Riko tune it out. Hatake talks again.

"Meet me at Training Ground Three at five in the morning. Don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw it up."

He vanishes in a shunshin and I walk away. I can't say that I'm not curious. And not exited at the prospect of fighting against a Jounin.

x-------------------------x

When I arrive at training ground three, I am surprised at seeing Riko falling down from a tree. Surprised is maybe not the right word as I watched her with a bewildered expression. I raise one eyebrow as both Uzumaki and me are staring at her.

Tiredly, she worked herself back to her feet.

"He, Ri-chan, Kakashi is gonna be here soon! It's five am, he said to meet him here then!" He sounds panicking. I didn't know he was so emotional before.

"'m here, aren't I?" She muttered in her pillow. "Lemme sleep. Only got an hour b'fore."

Uhh… Alright?

"Why? You knew we had a test." I asked.

"zactly. Tell you later."

And she promptly fall asleep on the floor.

Me and Uzumaki both stare at her, then at each other, sharing the same feeling of bemusement.

Alright…

x-------------------------x

The sun is already up when she wakes up again. I glanced at Riko. She seemed a lot more awake. And she was right. Unfortunately. Hatake is still nowhere to be seen.

"What time is it?"

"Round nine." Uzumaki answered flatly. His stomach growls. So does mine. He seems sheepish while I do my best to stay emotionless. After all, hunger is a small inconvenience that shouldn't bother me during the test.

It really shouldn't. But when I saw the nutrition bars in her hand I couldn't help but gladly accept it.

"But Kakashi-sensei said not to eat!" Uzumaki protests.

"He also said he'd be here at five, and that was four hours ago. Eat. You can't do training on an empty stomach."

Well, she got a point.

"The order didn't make sense, anyway. He probable wanted us to be stressed and weak for his test." She explains.

"But that's not fair!"

Of course it's not !

"You got something to say, teme?"

"We're ninja. We don't fight fair. Dobe." I smirk.

But before he can say something rude, Riko cuts in. What a pity. "Exactly. It's like a prank, you know?" His face lights up as he nods.

"But we're ninja too. We can prank him back, understand?" She grins. So does Uzumaki. And they grin together. What a frightening pair. Wait… does she mean?

"You trapped the training ground." He said incredulously. And appraisingly.

"Took me seven hours."

"Ne, Ri-chan, you're awesome!" Uzumaki says, voicing out my opinion.

"I know. But we'll still need a plan to defeat him. He's a jounin, we'll have to work together. But first. Look closely. This is were the traps are…"

Awesome. Yeah. I think so too.


	4. Chapter 4

She sits next to me on the railing. As for me, I can't look at her in the eyes. I shouldn't be ashamed. Really. But I can't erase her words and her sadden expression.

You and Naruto abandoned the plan. Abandoned me!

I sight. I had so many things left to tell. But strangely, I couldn't pronounce the right words. I am pathetic.

"I'm not angry anymore." Riko whispers softly.

I look at her. She sends me an hesitant smile. I nod slightly, feeling as if a weigh is lifted off my shoulders.

"I like to play shogi. I also like pranking villagers with Naruto, but don't tell anyone I do that. My favourite food is miso Ramen. My favourite animals are deer. I want a flying summon someday and fly around with it. What about you?"

It was… So out of character that I couldn't stop staring at her, bemused. And yet, a warm feeling settled in my chest. Her lovely face had a nice pink tinge as she stared at the water beneath us. She's cute.

But before I had the chance to answer, Uzumaki comes running and unfortunately, yelling. As usual. I am kind of starting to get used to.

And get used to spend more time with Riko. Which is a nice, I guess.

"Good morning, Ruto."

"Morning Ri-chan! Are you feeling better ? You looked real tired yesterday, dattebayo!" he asks with a worried look in his eyes.

"I'm feeling better. My clan is good with medicines, so I'll be back to normal in no time at all." And we both let out a relieved sight. Then he looks around.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

Reading ?

"Late, Again." Riko tells him. He groans. I almost did the same. Why is he so. damn. annoying. so early in the morning!

x-------------------------x

Kakashi listen to her explanation of her water clone problem. As for the Dobe and me, we decided to stick around after team practice.

"Make a water clone." He tells her. She nod and suggest we go to the river.

I watch as she stand on the surface of the river and does hand seals. It doesn't really surprise me. Coming from my teammate, nothing surprise me anymore. I wonder chat else she has hidden up in her sleeve.

A clone rose from the water and stand next to her. Then she waves at us.

"Hey, Ruto and Sasuke-san!" She says cheerfully. Then she gives a short bow to Hatake. "It's nice to meet you, Kakashi-san."

"I can see why you are concerned." He steps closer and declares "The level of detail is incredible." He says before stepping back.

"Level of detail?"

"Water clones are only D-ranked technique. They are generally easy to tell apart from the original because they only mimic the overall appearance but not small details like fades scares or small rip in clothing, for example. An experience user could make the clone believable, but a fresh genin like you shouldn't be able to. However, this clone could fooled some jounin."

"Whoa, that's awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto shouts. Riko and I, on the other hand are frowning.

"That doesn't make sense. I've only used the technique for around a year." She states. "And what about their behaviour?"

"Hm, I wonder." Hatake muses. Then he reaches for his hitai-ate and pulls it up.

The reaction is instantaneous. Riko jumps back in surprise and stumbles, her gaze not leaving the single sharingan on their sensei's face.

I frown. She is too pale and she looks nauseous.

I step forward, just in case.

"Riko-chan ? Are you alright?"

"Yeah" she answered automatically. "I was just surprised, that's all, sensei". Then she took a deep breath.

"Really, I'm fine. What is the eye?" She ask. I hate that her voice is hoarse and her hand is shaking.

"A sharingan."Hatake answers flatly.

My ears peak up.

"Isn't that the Uchiha bloodline limit?"

"It was implanted when I was younger. I'll take a look at your clone now."

And he focuses on her clone. And I stare at her. Riko's reaction to the sharingan is unusual. I'll question him later, Riko's reaction is more worrying.

"It looks to be a normal clone, but there seems to be something else clinging to it. A different kind of chakra. I've never seen anything like that before." He says as he pulls on his hitai-ate.

"Different chakra?" Naruto asks as Hatake turns to her.

"Do you know of any recorded bloodlines limits in your biological family?"

"I-no, I'm from a civilian family, I don't know of anything like that." She muses for a couple of seconds. And a look of understanding flash through her eyes. I narrow mine.

"Hm.. Well, I don't see a problem with you using the water clones, but we'll keep on eye on their behaviour. Now, I'd like to see what other ninjutsu you have."

It seems that her strange chakra clings to any one of her techniques and makes it stronger. Curiouser and curiouser, indeed.

x-------------------------x

I offered to walk her home.

She was still shaking even though we seemed better than a couple of minutes ago. She looked… more focused. At least, she was not pale anymore. But her forehead still beaded with sweat as she pressed her lips together anxiously.

"Are you alright?"

"Sure, Why wouldn't I be?" She said carefully.

"I can read your body language." I stated. "You're lying." She sight then looks away. Don't.

Then we sit down on a nearby bench. She stares down at her hands. I can't bear it any longer.

"You were scarred of Kakashi's sharingan." I say bluntly.

"It… it just reminded me of something." Her voice is quiet. Almost a whisper.

I gestured her to elaborate.

"My parents… were m-murdered. That… his eyes, they were…"

Suddenly I grab her shoulders, hard, and look up into her wide green eyes. I could barely contain my anger. My heart was loudly pounding in my chest as I stared at her. "Your parents were killed by an Uchiha?"

Did Itachi...

She shakes her head vigorously. "No! Kami, no, it wasn't an Uchiha, calm Down Sasuke." She whispered, her hands covering mine. "It was just the eye colour, no sharingan, okay ?"

They are warm. It's comforting. And her eyes. They were so expressive. And Beautiful. Slowly, I allow my hand to relax under hers. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Really, it was just the surprise, Sasuke. I'm fine now, really, I promise." I don't believe a word but I let it go.

Unfortunatly, her words did bring up some… unpleasant memories.

"Do you want to spar?"


End file.
